Quilting is a fast growing and popular craft in the U.S. and throughout the world. Quilters spend hours creating quilts that often have complex and intricate designs and patterns, amounting to works of art. Quilters use many methods and aids to assist them in laying out these patterns, which comprise many pieces of varying sizes. These aids are generically referred to as “design walls”. One of these uses a piece of flannel or felt laid on a table top, frequently the family dining table. The felt and flannel helps hold the quilt fabric pieces, called “blocks”, from sliding out of place as various designs are tried out. The blocks can easily be removed and placed in a different position, as the quilter seeks a desirable pattern. This method has the disadvantage of requiring removal from the table top when there is need to use the table for other uses. The creation of a quilt pattern can take hours or days, depending on complexity.
These felt or flannel pieces are also tacked onto a wall, since the felt and flannel have the ability to hold the blocks on the vertical surfaces, due to the heavy nap of the felt or flannel. However, since most quilters do not have a dedicated quilting room, common rooms, such as a bedroom or dining room, are used and this new wall adornment is not a part of the room decor and must be moved frequently. Sometimes, the felt or flannel piece is nailed onto a door or door frame. However, this is a short-term mounting if the door is ever to be used, as is usual, for passage in a house or apartment.
When moving these felt or flannel “design walls”, whether installed horizontally or vertically, great care must be taken to not disturb the blocks in the design layout already accomplished.
Thus, there is a need for some type of quilting design wall that is easy to use, store and transport. One solution to this problem is posed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,862,823—deCarteret, wherein a piece of fabric is coated on both sides with a dry tack adhesive. This enables the fabric to be removably adhered to a wall on one side and to adhere fabric pieces on the other side. A cover sheet is placed over the fabric pieces to enable the sheet to be rolled up for movement. This device, which is commercially available as the “Block Butler”, suffers from several serious shortcomings. The dry tack adhesive is affected by humidity level and must be spritzed with a water spray if the humidity drops, or the quilt fabric pieces fall off. Also, it has been found that, in any humidity, the pieces will not adhere overnight. A further drawback is that, when pieces are removed, the adhesive trends to retain loose threads, and attracts lint and animal hair that is difficult to remove.
In view of the above, there is a need for a quilting design wall that is easy to mount, remove, store and transport while retaining the quilting pattern as it progresses. It is further need for a quilting design wall that easily and securely, yet easily removably, mounts quilting blocks.